One woman was killed late Monday night when her car was struck by an alleged drunken driver on Ventura Boulevard at Vanalden Avenue in Tarzana. A total of seven cars were involved in the crash. LAPD Valley Traffic Division was investigating the crash. Photo by Rick McClure for the Daily News

One woman was killed and four people injured Monday night in a seven-vehicle collision along Ventura Boulevard near Vanalden Avenue in Tarzana, officials said Tuesday.

The woman killed has not been identified, pending notification of family, but was said to be in her 60s. The cause of the chain-reaction crash remains under investigation despite earlier reports of a DUI arrest.

According to police, a 1999 Ford Taurus was traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound along Ventura around 11 p.m. when it slammed into a vehicle at a red light at the 101 Freeway on-ramp, causing a chain reaction that involved seven cars.

A woman in her 60s, who was driving a blue 2003 Saturn Ion, was pronounced dead at the scene. Three others were treated by paramedics and released. The driver of the Taurus was also injured and was transported to a local hospital.

Despite earlier reports, the male driver of the Taurus was not arrested, although police confirmed reports that, while injured, he walked into a nearby gas station and bought beer immediately following the crash.

“We have received information relative to that from a witness at the scene. It was at the Chevron. He bought beer and had partially consumed one of them when we arrived,” said Detective William Bustos of Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

Bustos stressed that investigators do not know if the man was intoxicated prior to the collision.

“That is certainly a focus of our investigation,” he said. “We have to look at everything — why the car was traveling so fast, was it inattention, or whatever it may be. We are looking into everything and will present what we find to the District Attorney, and they will make a decision on whether to file charges.”

Anyone with information about this collision is asked to contact Detective Bustos at 818-644-8021 or Officer Daniel Menesez at 818-644-8028.